Golden Branch

At dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun dyed half of the sky orange.

The clouds look like the scales of a koi fish.

Complementing this is the orange-red ripples of Qujiang Lake.

The breeze blows gently, and the water surface sparkles with rosy clouds, creating a picturesque scene.

Beside Quchi, there are many young men and women, some enjoying themselves, some singing to the river.

Some people brought river lanterns, wrote down their wishes, lit candles, and carefully placed them on the water.

Among the crowd, there was a young boy with delicate features.

Although he looked to be in his teens, he was only slightly shorter than an adult man.

He had the deep eyes, high nose, and fair skin that were typical of northerners. Even though his clothes were not fancy, at first glance one would think he was a pampered young nobleman.

Of course, if someone who knows the goods takes a closer look, they will find that the boy's unremarkable moon-white round-necked robe has a lot of hidden secrets -

All the embroidery on the clothes is done with silver thread.

Normally, there is nothing unusual, but if you look at it under a light curtain, you can see a glittering silver light.

And the embroidery is so exquisite that it must have been done by a professional embroiderer with superb skills.

The fact that a family can afford to employ a dedicated embroiderer shows that the family is either wealthy or noble.

"Pray to God, bless my mother to recover soon!"

The young boy took an exquisite river lantern, wrote many auspicious words of blessing on it, and then placed it into Qujiang River himself.

The river lanterns fell onto the water and floated slowly with the slight ripples.

The young boy knelt down, clasped his hands together, and prayed devoutly: "Mother, you will be healthy and safe."

Thinking of his mother's pale face and frail body, the young boy's voice choked a little: "I would give ten years of my life in exchange for my mother's health."

"...Mother! You will definitely get better, right?"

The young boy is usually sensible and calm, behaving like an eldest son or elder brother, but at this moment, for the sake of his mother, he rarely showed his vulnerability and fear.

He was worried about his mother and was deeply afraid.

If his mother passed away, what would happen to him, his younger brother, and his younger sister?

And my father will definitely be sad too.

Besides the inseparable feelings, there are also interests that the young man does not want to think about -

If my mother had passed away, my father would definitely not have been a widower forever.

Grandpa and grandma will definitely choose a bride for my father.

Their family is not an ordinary family, and his stepmother is not an ordinary stepmother either.

It concerns the court, it concerns the throne... The young man didn't dare to think about how his world would be turned upside down if his mother really passed away.

Sniffing hard to suppress the surging tears, the young man stared intently at the river lantern that carried all his hopes, floating away.

The boy started to learn Buddhism at the age of three, and was well-versed in the classics of sages. He was also strictly taught by his father and tutor. Deep down, he did not believe in ghosts and gods.

However, his mother was seriously ill and medical treatment was ineffective. Human power seemed to be unable to play a role, so he could only put his hope in the gods and Buddhas.

I only hope that God will have mercy on me and let my mother recover as soon as possible.

"My dear, it's getting late, we should go back!"

In a few hours, the palace will be locked and the capital will be under curfew.

Indeed, as the eldest son of the Eastern Palace, Xiao Dalang is not afraid of these things.

However, the Crown Princess is seriously ill and trouble is brewing in the Eastern Palace. In this extraordinary period, we should be as careful as possible.

Even if he wasn't afraid of causing trouble, he wouldn't want to worry the Crown Princess who was on her sickbed.

"……Um!"

The young man knew the importance of the matter, and since his goal for today had been achieved, he had no intention of staying outside.

Reaching out to hold the arm offered by the servant, the young man slowly stood up.

Seeing this, the other eunuchs, guards, etc. all became busy.

Pack up the things, bring the horses, and serve the young master back to the palace.

The young man held the eunuch's arm, turned around and walked towards the shore.

From the master to the servants, everyone was busy and their vigilance was a little relaxed.

At this moment, several dark shadows suddenly jumped out from the grass on the shore.

They wore black Hu clothing and black masks covering their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.

In their hands they either held a broadsword or a scimitar commonly used by foreigners. The blades were sharp and flashed with a cold light under the slightly drunken sunset light.

Swish swish!

As several black shadows rose and fell, cold rays of light slashed towards the young man.

"There are assassins!"

"Someone, come quickly!"

"Protect my lord! Quick! Protect my lord quickly!"

All the eunuchs and guards were shocked by this sudden change.

Fortunately, they have all experienced storms and have a certain ability to respond.

After a brief moment of shock, they all rushed into action.

Some people shouted, some drew their weapons and stood in front of the boy.

The boy was also frightened, and his tender little face instantly lost all color.

But soon, he calmed down.

He quietly raised his right foot and pulled out a small dagger from the shaft of his black leather boots.

His palms were sweaty, but he still held the hilt of the dagger tightly.

Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!

With the eunuchs, the guards, and himself, he would be fine.

"Quick victory!"

"Quick! It's that brat, kill him!"

"You bastard, your elders owed a blood debt to my people, so you little brat should pay it back!"

“…Kill! Kill them all!”

Several dark shadows were waving their weapons wildly and shouting slogans.

A dark light flashed in the boy's eyes:...Are they afraid that I don't know that they are here to seek revenge?

The assassins and guards fought each other, blades clashing against blades, making metallic sounds and faint sparks.

The young man gripped the dagger tightly and retreated towards the horse under the protection of several eunuchs.

Seeing that the guards were difficult to deal with, several dark shadows raised their hands and sprinkled some powder.

The powder splashed onto the guards' faces and bodies, and they let out shrill screams the next moment.

"Poison! It's poison powder!"

"Not good, these are not ordinary assassins."

The eunuch became increasingly panicked.

These slaves may die, but they leave behind a young grandson of the emperor who is of noble status.

If anything happens to the emperor's grandson, their entire family and even the entire clan will be held accountable.

At this moment, more than a dozen figures came running from not far away.

"Another person has arrived. Could it be that these thieves have accomplices?"

The eunuchs almost closed their eyes in despair.

The boy's face was tense and his hand holding the dagger couldn't help shaking.

He is indeed calmer than his peers, but after all, he is only a ten-year-old boy.

Not to mention him, even an adult man cannot face the threat of death calmly.

"Am I going to die?"

Just as the young man's heart was pounding, a dozen figures rushed over, and someone shouted loudly: "Don't worry, little Dalang, we are ordered to protect you!"

Hearing the other party calling him "Xiao Dalang", which directly revealed his identity, the young man's heart was half relieved.

It seems that they are not accomplices of the assassin, but possible reinforcements.

"On orders? Whose orders did you follow?"

The boy suppressed his fear and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"My master is the Duke of Qi!"

The man replied without stopping. He passed the young man and several eunuchs and rushed to the assassin.

The guards had already fallen to the ground wailing, rolling around with their heads in their hands. The tragic scene was horrifying to watch.

The dozen or so reinforcements were not frightened, but instead fought to the death.

While they were fighting fiercely with the assassins, they shouted, "Xiao Dalang, hurry up!"

"Oh! Yes! Let's go! Let's go!"

The boy was awakened and without caring about anything else, he quickly ran to the horse.

A eunuch quickly knelt down, and the young man stepped on his back and quickly mounted the horse.

"Drive! Drive!"

The young man kicked the stirrup hard, tightened the reins with the hand holding the dagger, and waved the whip wildly with the other hand.

The horse felt pain and instinctively spread its hooves and ran away.

Several eunuchs also mounted their horses and quickly followed the young man.

"Quick! Quickly chase!"

"Kill all these eyesores! Quick! Catch up with that brat!"

When the assassins saw this, their eyes turned red with anxiety.

They threw out powder again, but unfortunately the secret guards sent by Lou Yu were already accustomed to being armed to the teeth.

They wear thick masks that can block more than 90% of the toxic powder.

With poison useless, the assassins lost their greatest advantage.

The secret guards raised their swords and swung them down. In just two or three moves, they killed or subdued all the assassins.

"Leave him alive! Interrogate him swiftly. We must obtain a confession as quickly as possible, and then follow the clues to find the mastermind behind this!"

"Yes!"

The secret guards have long been skilled in doing these things.

Everything is organized and well-trained without any special instructions.

As for torture and interrogation, the methods these secret guards are good at are even more cruel than the tortures in the so-called imperial prison.

Drag the person to an empty corner, and in just a few seconds, get some useful clues.

They kept the living people and their confessions and continued their investigation.

On the other side, the young man rode his horse and quickly fled Qujiang.

A group of people came on horseback, causing pedestrians and tourists on the roadside to give way.

As they were about to leave the scenic area and rush into the market, the young man did not dare to let his guard down.

He was not sure whether the thieves had any accomplices.

He was even more uncertain whether the people sent by Master Lou could stop them.

escape!

Try your best to escape!

He escaped from Qujiang and entered Zhuque Street, where there were patrolling Wu Hou, and he was safe.

Alternatively, he could head straight for the South City Gate, where there were guards guarding the city who could also protect him.

The young man galloped on his horse while his brain was working rapidly.

Because of his status, the young man had seen the full map of Chang'an and was familiar with the inner and outer cities, the main streets, the major city gates, etc.

He looked around, determined his position, and combined it with the map in his mind, he quickly found his target.

Yes, go west, pass Quchifang and Tongjifang, and you will reach Qixiamen. When you get there, there will be teams of guards.

The boy aimed in the right direction and continued to wave the whip wildly.

Just as his horse was heading west along the high wall of Quchifang, several figures suddenly rushed out from the gate of the square.

"Stop! Don't run! The Hundred Cavalry Division is investigating this case. Why don't you surrender the suspects?"

Faintly, the shouts of the officers were heard.

The boy didn't care about all this. He opened his eyes wide in horror. Faced with the figure that suddenly ran in front of him, he instinctively pulled the reins and tried every way to avoid it.

The secret guards hiding in the dark rushed forward and tried to rescue him.

But, he was still a step too slow. With a plop, the boy flew off the horse's back...